Book Review: Born Posthumous by Fish Nealman

Reviewed by Elizabeth Reiser

The line between man and machine becomes blurred in this intriguing reality-bender of a tale.

Legendary musician Manny Old still draws big crowds of loyal fans to hear his new music; the fact that he is no longer living is irrelevant. Thanks to advancements in AI, a digital recreation of the artist now exists, and the ramifications of this are explored in Born Posthumous, a thought-provoking novel of art, ownership, and technology.

Nealman sets the stage by opening in a radio station in the future, where the recreation of Manny is celebrated regularly by on-air DJs. It becomes clear Manny Old’s popularity mirrors that of The Beatles, Elvis, or Taylor Swift. When the world is given the option to essentially bring him back to life, his fandom becomes unmatched. After all, this is not simply a hologram performing the musician’s greatest hits; it’s an intelligent AI synthesis capable of producing new music as well.

Jumping back and forth in time, Nealman highlights Manny’s rough beginnings, his adulthood, and life as a husband and father—and ending with the posthumous version of himself. While the timeline can at times be confusing, it is an effective tool in emphasizing the differences between true human sentience and machine-powered creation. Manny shares his disdain for AI and has ethical concerns as a musician before death, and there’s a sharp contrast against what happened to him after death—a realistic representation of what he found so problematic. It works well for getting the reader to consider issues that arise from creating technology just because we can, not necessarily because we should.

It is this question of whether technology should be utilized in such a way that is the heart of the story. The moral and ethical implications are stressed throughout the book but are made most obvious in the sections regarding Posthumous Manny. Having created this second version of the artist, the fans seem to feel a sense of ownership over the deceased star. His fame as a posthumous musician works so well because the real version ceases to exist, and he can now be controlled, made to create and perform for as long as fans demand.

Born Posthumous provides useful commentary on this timely topic through a compelling and often humorous story. Manny’s whole life (and after) is interesting: from his humble beginnings with his supportive mother to his lovely relationship with his son.

As we’d hope before picking up this novel, there are plenty of tongue-in-cheek music references and it does a great job of raising questions on the ethics of advanced technology. Thoughtful, fun, and timely—Born Posthumous does just what it sets out to do and readers are all the better for it.

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